SXSW award winner Big Easy Express gets iTunes world launch

The exclusive iTunes store launch comes more than a month ahead of launch on any other platform. Alliance Entertainment will release on Blu-ray/DVD on July 24 and an autumn theatrical launch is planned.

The film, from S2BN Films and BEE LLC, won the headliner audience award at SXSW.

The doc is about about the bond between indie bands Mumford & Sons, Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros and Old Crow Medicine Show as they travel on a vintage train for an eight-day tour (The Railroad Revival Tour) through the American Southwest.

“We are thrilled to bring this musically charged documentary film to the world on the iTunes Store,” says Karol Martesko-Fenster, President of S2BN Films. “The iTunes Store is a distribution vehicle that allows us to bring Big Easy Express to 50 countries on the same day. The film will be presented in pristine quality with great viewing options for movie and music fans alike.”

S2BN Entertainment Chairman and Executive Producer Michael Cohl, director Emmett Malloy, and producers Tim Lynch, Bryan Ling, and Mike Luba, the filmmakers said: “We always wanted to incorporate a global digital platform into our release strategy and to find a novel approach to bringing BIG EASY EXPRESS to both new and traditional film audiences. We are delighted to be working with all of our partners in crafting an innovative distribution model.”

Ben Weiss of Paradigm added: “We are thrilled to be working with S2BN Films on this revolutionary rollout of BIG EASY EXPRESS. It highlights the true potential of the digital direct release and reaffirms our mission to be exploring all distribution models available to content owners. And the timing couldn’t be better. Mumford & Sons and Old Crow Medicine Show will release new albums in 2012, while Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros’ latest album Here was released on May 29 and has quickly become one of the best-selling albums on the iTunes Store.”

In a joint statement from S2BN Entertainment Chairman and Executive Producer Michael Cohl, director Emmett Malloy, and producers Tim Lynch, Bryan Ling, and Mike Luba, the filmmakers said: “We always wanted to incorporate a global digital platform into our release strategy and to find a novel approach to bringing BIG EASY EXPRESS to both new and traditional film audiences. We are delighted to be working with all of our partners in crafting an innovative distribution model.”

July will kick off a multi-platform, multi-territory direct release of the film that includes the global Blu-ray/DVD combo pack releaseon July 24 via Alliance Entertainment, followed by a subscription video on demand and theatrical run later this year. S2BN’s Karol Martesko-Fenster and Ben Weiss of Paradigm worked closely to arrange the deals on behalf of the film and B.E.E. LLC.

Ben Weiss of Paradigm said of the partnership: “We are thrilled to be working with S2BN Films on this revolutionary rollout of BIG EASY EXPRESS. It highlights the true potential of the digital direct release and reaffirms our mission to be exploring all distribution models available to content owners. And the timing couldn’t be better. Mumford & Sons and Old Crow Medicine Show will release new albums in 2012, while Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros’ latest album Here was released on May 29 and has quickly become one of the best-selling albums on the iTunes Store.”

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“Being on an vintage train, riding the rails through the heart of America took us all back in time a bit. It was easy to get lost and imagine that we were just there for the fun of it all — rolling along with your friends and playing music because you loved it. Our cameras were there to participate in the journey and never get in the way of the moving train.”

Emmett Malloy, Director

“It was about the joy of music and the joy of camaraderie. We’re each quite different bands. We come from different places — England, Los Angeles, Nashville — but we all came together and played our hearts out. It was really amazing.”

Gill Landry, Old Crow Medicine Show

“It was a romantic idea from the start. The journey became something that we could never have planned.”

Marcus Mumford, Mumford & Sons

“BIG EASY EXPRESS tells its story through wall-to-wall music and the lyrical beauty of the passing landscape, enabling the audience to see the country the way people saw it more than 100 years ago.”

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